#the best immersion blender

[esleep]

just remembered i made another batch of daal soup yesterday so i get to have some for lunch today >:)

[staryflowers]

chat what happens in fullmetal alchemist. sorry for ur loss or happy that happened i dont know

[narutomaki]

only problem with cooking from the heart is I will make something new and will like it sooooooo so so fucking much and know I will get it wrong the next time and disappoint only myself

[bestsellersfromamazon]

10 Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets to Simplify Your Cooking Routine

Cooking at home can be incredibly rewarding, but let’s be honest, it can also feel like a bit of a chore without the right tools. Whether you’re a seasoned chef or just starting out in the kitchen, having the right gadgets can make all the difference. Here are ten must-have kitchen gadgets that have transformed my cooking routine and can do the same for you. 1. Instant Pot I was skeptical about…

[ekecorp]

Blending Brilliance: Key Considerations for Commercial Immersion Blenders

In the fast-paced world of commercial kitchens, efficiency is paramount. Chefs and culinary professionals understand the importance of having the right tools to streamline their processes and deliver top-notch results. One such indispensable tool that has revolutionized the way commercial kitchens operate is the commercial immersion blender. Also known as hand blenders or stick blenders, these versatile gadgets have become a staple in professional kitchens for their ability to blend, puree, and emulsify with precision and speed.

The Rise of the Commercial Immersion Blender

The culinary landscape has witnessed a transformative shift with the rise of the commercial immersion blender. Once confined to home kitchens, these versatile gadgets, also known as hand blenders or stick blenders, have emerged as indispensable tools in professional culinary settings. Most professionals desire the best immersion blender to meet the demands of efficiency and precision in commercial kitchens. With powerful performance, durability, and innovative features, top-rated immersion blenders have become essential companions for professionals navigating the fast-paced demands of their craft. The commercial immersion blender's compact design and ability to blend directly in containers make it a time-saving and mess-reducing asset, symbolizing a new era of blending brilliance in professional kitchens.

Exploring Key Factors Choosing the Best Immersion Blender

With the market flooded with various brands and models, selecting the best immersion blender for commercial use can be a daunting task. Here are some key considerations to help you navigate through the options and find the perfect blending companion for your kitchen:

Power and Performance: The first and foremost consideration when choosing a commercial immersion blender is its power. Look for a blender with a high wattage, as this directly correlates with its ability to handle tough ingredients and provide smoother results. Commercial kitchens often deal with large quantities, so having a powerful immersion blender is crucial for efficiency.

Durability and Build Quality: Commercial kitchens can be demanding environments, and the tools used need to withstand constant use. Opt for immersion blenders with a durable build, featuring high-quality materials that can endure the rigors of a busy kitchen. Stainless steel blades and a robust motor housing are indicators of a blender's ability to withstand heavy-duty use.

Blade Design: The meticulous design of immersion blender blades is paramount to ensure a seamless blending process. Look for the best immersion blender that has well-made, sharp blades that can easily blend a wide variety of ingredients. Certain models even have replaceable blades for increased versatility, which allows them to be used for a variety of culinary tasks and gives the kitchen's arsenal even more flexibility.

Cleaning Convenience: In the bustling realm of commercial kitchens, where time is where time is limited and precious, the ease of cleaning cannot be overstated. Opt for a commercial immersion blender with features that make cleaning and disassembly quick and easy. To ensure a quick and easy cleanup routine, which is essential for maintaining an efficient and hygienic kitchen environment, some advanced models offer detachable shafts and dishwasher-safe components.

Control and Speed Options: The ability to precisely regulate blending speed is essential for achieving culinary perfection. It is crucial for chefs to choose an immersion blender with adjustable speed settings so they can achieve the right consistency for a variety of dishes. Additionally, some top-rated immersion blenders are equipped with pulse functions, delivering an additional layer of control, and enabling you to refine your culinary creations with finesse.

Size and Ergonomics: Choosing immersion blenders that are both compact and ergonomically constructed is crucial when working in commercial kitchens with limited space. Consider looking for a model that seamlessly integrates ease of handling and storage, featuring a comfortable grip and a lightweight design. These attributes not only enhance manoeuvrability but also mitigate strain during prolonged usage, ensuring that these immersion blenders become a trusted and efficient component in the demanding environment of a professional kitchen.

Brand Reputation and Reviews: Before making a final decision, consider the reputation of the brand and read reviews from other chefs and professionals who have used the immersion blenders. A top-rated immersion blender from a reputable brand is likely to meet your expectations and deliver reliable performance.

Takeaway: Blending Brilliance in Every Kitchen

In the world of commercial kitchens, the right tools can make all the difference. Commercial immersion blenders are the ultimate expression of blending excellence in any food establishment. Chefs and culinary professionals seeking the best immersion blender can now elevate their culinary prowess with these top-rated gadgets. The collaboration of power, durability, and ergonomic design in commercial immersion blenders caters to the unique demands of professional kitchens. These compact yet robust tools enable you to streamline their processes, providing efficiency and precision in every blend. As a result, the culinary landscape embraces a new era where the versatility and reliability of top-rated immersion blenders become integral components, transforming ordinary kitchen tasks into extraordinary culinary creations. Embrace the future of blending brilliance in every culinary endeavour with the commercial immersion blender.

[ghosty-schnibibit]

this poll has been brought to you by the overwhelming spite i feel when i read recipes that involve vegetables like carrots or squash with big disclaimers like "i know the cooking time seems short but you don't want to overcook your veggies! mushy vegetables are gross and an affront to cooking!" when my texture issue having ass will only eat vegetables if they've been steamed and roasted into a paste

[castielafflicted]

spicy black bean soup time. with sour cream.

[bestpickme]

✅ 10 Best Budget Immersion Blender 2023 [BUYING GUIDE]

[foodshowxyz]

Creamy roasted garlic tomato soup

Yields: 4-6 servings Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients

Roasted Veggies:

3 pounds ripe tomatoes (Roma or on-the-vine work well)

1 head garlic (top sliced off)

1 medium onion, quartered

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Soup Base:

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 2 sprigs fresh)

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 cups vegetable broth (low-sodium is best)

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (optional, for garnish)

Equipment:

Baking sheet

Large pot or Dutch oven

Immersion blender (or regular blender)

Instructions

Roast the Vegetables:

Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).

Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Drizzle tomatoes, onion, and the garlic head with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place them on a baking sheet, cut-side down.

Roast for 35-40 minutes, or until tomatoes are blistered and softened.

Start the Soup Base:

While the veggies roast, melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the thyme and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Blend the Soup:

Carefully squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins and into the pot with the melted butter. Add the roasted tomatoes and onions (including any juices).

Pour in the vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.

Use an immersion blender (or carefully transfer to a regular blender in batches) to puree until very smooth.

Finish and Season:

Stir in the heavy cream. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Serve:

Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh basil if desired. Enjoy with crusty bread, grilled cheese, or a simple salad for a delicious meal!

Tips & Variations:

Spice it up: Add a pinch of red pepper flakes with the thyme for a little kick.

Vegan: Swap the butter for olive oil and use a plant-based cream alternative.

Extra Flavor: Add a tablespoon of tomato paste while cooking the thyme for deeper tomato flavor.

Storage: This soup keeps well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and freezes beautifully.

[kymtym]

Strawberry Jam

I make this often and it's the best jam I've ever had.

INGREDIENTS:

3 pounds (1.360kg) strawberries, trimmed and quartered

3 cups (710 ml) granulated sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

TOOLS

a wide pot with a lid

A silicone spatula / scraper

A stove (range?)

A big spoon for stirring and scooping

A small spoon for testing readiness

A glass or ceramic plate to test readiness

A freezer (for the plate)

EITHER a potato masher OR an immersion blender (stick blender?)

A container to put the finished product in. This recipe is not shelf stable, the jam will need to go in the fridge.

Early in the day, combine all ingredients in the pot. It may seem like too much sugar, but don't worry. Mix it up with the silicone spatula, put a lid on it, and leave it in the kitchen. Every now and then, give it another mix. I just leave the spatula in the pot, the lid is just to keep and dust and the cats out of the mix. The sugar will eventually draw out a bunch of juice from the strawberries and you will be left with a pot of strawberries in syrup. This will take hours. If you scrape the bottom of the pot and no longer feel grainy sugar and you're no longer able to pull up any sugar, you're ready to cook it.

Put the plate in the freezer.

Mash or blend your syrup-strawberry mix to your desired smoothness. It will get thicker as it cooks, so keep that in mind. I blend the life out of the strawberries because I like for it to be easy to spread on toast, my sister likes for the to still be strawberry chunks, so when I make it for her I just use the potato masher.

Turn on the heat! Boil it! Stir almost constantly. My recent batch took just under an hour to cook all the way. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, I did like a 3 out of 10. If you stop stirring, goopy bubbles should appear like a slow motion boil. You will have like a pink foam on the top of the mix from the boiling. After about 30 minutes, the bubbling should be thicker and goopier. After about 40 minutes, the pink foam should almost go away when you stir the mix, like you can almost stir the bubbles into the mix.

Pull the plate out of the freezer and use the small spoon to spread a little bit of the mix onto the plate in a stripe. Hold the plate vertically so the stripe goes left to right. If the stripe immediately starts to drip down the plate, the mix isn't done yet, put the plate back in the freezer and keep cooking. Try again in like 5-10 minutes. If the mix DOESN'T immediately start dripping down the plate, turn the plate so the stripe goes up and down and swipe your finger through the stripe from leg to right (or right to left). The jam is done cooking when the stripe made from your finger through the stripe of mix holds and doesn't fill with dripping mix.

(If you have a candy thermometer, the jam is done when it reaches 220°f or 104°c)

CAREFULLY pour or scoop the jam into your preferred container. This jam is HOT and STICKY so please treat it like lava. This stuff is hotter than boiling water and will stick to you until you wash it off, don't let it touch your skin.

3 pounds of strawberries makes about 3 pint jars of jam with a little bit of room at the top of the jars. If you want to, you can properly can it and make it shelf-stable until it's opened, but I've never done that so your on your own. I just keep them in my fridge or give them to friends and neighbors.

I'm lucky enough to have a huge strawberry festival nearby every March. 20 pounds lasts me and my husband a year of jam, sorbet and cheung. I get them home, give them a vinegar bath, and trim them up before measuring out a bunch of one pound bags that I vacuum seal and freeze, and some 5 ounce (140 gram) servings for sorbet, also sealed and frozen.

Let me know if anyone wants the sorbet or cheug recipes.

Have fun! Be careful! Enjoy!

[liesmyth]

any interest in sharing that sausage and pumpkin lasagn recipe 👀

VERY HAPPILY, unfortunately it's in italian. here's a video

tldr (assuming you're familiar with a "regular" lasagna recipe)

clean the pumpkin of seeds and cut it into slices, then "toast it" in the oven — cook it at 180° in ventilated mode for one hour until the pumpkin is mostly dry.

in the meantime, roast the sausage in a pan in an onion fry, add white wine to simmer for flavour if you're into that, put some rosemary if you're into that

prepare bechamel sauce! I do it with butter + flour, milk, and salt + nutmeg for flavour. aim to make it thick.

once the bechamel is ready, take out the pumpkin slices and wring them out if necessary. then blend the pumpkin into the sauce — an immersion blender would be best if you have it! the sauce should be on the sweeter side but add a pinch of salt if needed

assemble the lasagna! bechamel sauce on the bottom of the pan + layer of sasagna + sauce + crumbled sausage + parmesan cheese. then repeat (lasagna, sauce, sausage, parmesan) until it's all done

cook the assembled lasagna! 30 mins @ 190°.

PROFIT

This is a HIT with my family u have no idea. lmk if you make it!!!

[ms-demeanor]

Do you have any food tips for someone with bad texture sensitivities? The texture I hate Most is anything fibrous, which is almost all vegetables, and makes me feel and seem like a fuckin 8 year old. The best thing I've found so far is removing the central stem from spinach, "deveining" it, but that takes Forever and doesn't add much verity

I do! Because I fucking *loathe* celery strings!

So for one thing, if you find stuff that has textures that irritate you it's perfectly fine to avoid those things. If the stem from spinach bothers you are there good alternatives that serve the same purpose? Is the texture of kale or chard less problematic? If there are good alternatives that serve the same purpose, use those!

For another - look at some options on prep and purchasing. Does baby spinach bother you the same way that regular spinach does? Does baby spinach at least mean chopping off less of the stem because it's softer and less stringy? That might be a good option! But also check and see if there are different methods of prepping the particular vegetable. I started liking asparagus a lot more when I learned to snap the stem at its natural breaking point instead of trimming to an arbitrary length because that gets you a lot less fiber from the plant!

And finally - Destroy The Basic Structure Of The Offending Texture. If eating raw whole spinach is super difficult for you, don't do that. Cook it until the fibers break down (steaming and boiling do this pretty well) or chop it up so tiny that it isn't noticeable (this is the only way I will eat uncooked celery) or Stick That Motherfucker In a Blender (I put spinach in my smoothies and will often use an immersion blender to smooth out textures in soups). A mandolin slicer is a good way to get extremely thin-sliced veggies if cutting things up very fine is difficult for you.

You may also find that you have a better time eating frozen or canned vegetables than you do eating fresh vegetables. That's fine! If you're limited to canned vegetables make sure to watch the sodium in the veggies, but frozen and canned vegetables are still vegetables and they're still good for you.

[bloodfin]

planning out this menu for next week so of course thinking about the ghouls and their kitchen/food habits

dew loves sweet, crunchy treats. kettle corn, frozen chocolates, chocolate covered nuts. anything sweet that will leave a trail of crumbs will do. what he hates, however, is dishes, so he'll do anything possible to avoid making more, including using a paper towel as a makeshift plate (this of course leads to more mess, and mountain has nearly banned him from the space on several occasions)

rain loves spicy foods. ordering thai? he's requesting level 5 spicy, with extra chili paste on the side. loves to chase spice-intolerant dew around offering kisses after. he has too many teeth, so he won't touch stringy foods like celery. in the kitchen, he will clean as he goes, but never remembers where to put the spatulas or whisks so good luck figuring out which drawer he plopped them in

mountain also has a sweet tooth, but more for cakes and cookies. his baking is rivaled only by sunshine, and they'll tackle the most difficult recipes together to make actual magic. also makes the best ✨️special✨️ treats with his home-grown stash. extremely clean and organized; everyone knows better than to bother him in the kitchen, choosing to sit and observe at the island instead. if they're extra good, he'll slide them a sample

swiss loves savory and crunchy snacks. chips, pretzels, extra toasty cheeze-its. mountain made him savory trail mix once and now he asks for a pound of it every yule. will keep the kitchen pretty tidy, but has an unfortunate habit of forgetting to close the cabinets he opens and has bonked himself on more than one occasion. also known to make anything into leftover sandwiches that have no right to be as tasty as they are

aether is a grill dad. grilling is peaceful for him, plus it keeps his hands warm. loves a good classic burger, or a grilled chicken salad, definitely a savory guy. there could be a foot of snow outside, and aeth will be lighting the grill up for dinner without complaint. he's still learning to use the smoker, ever the perfectionist, but no one is complaining about eating the "messed up" brisket that doesn't quite fall apart when you poke it

aurora is the soup queen. loves eating soup, making soup; all soup, all the time. the den has a lot of mouths to feed so mountain made her a special step stool to help her see more easily into the massive kitchen stock pot while she cooks. her favorite to eat (but least favorite to make) is cauliflower soup, it's creamy and delicious, but every time she uses an immersion blender the ceiling gets as much soup as she does

sunshine also loves baking. her favorite is a classic raspberry french macaron and she has perfected the technique - it's impressive. phantom loves to watch her cook in particular, she's so clean and precise, they hope one day to hold a measuring cup like she does. sunshine is a bit more patient in the kitchen, showing whoever is watching little tips and tricks. wears the cutest floral apron, almost always covered in flour handprints

cumulus is all about fruits and berries, loves citrus and blackberries the best. mountain painstakingly cares for a little tangerine tree, just for her. her favorite foods to make are comfort foods, and she always makes the macaroni and cheese for big group dinners. everyone begs for it (and rain doesn't even add hot sauce), but she is definitely one of the messier cooks. everyone knows she has been in the kitchen when there are wrappers left about, little twist ties on the counter. the pack doesn't mind terribly, not when her dishes could cure any emotional wound

cirrus is all about cold, sweet snacks. loves ice cream and popsicles, the freezer is well stocked. her favorite is orange pushpops, and she will take exactly zero questions about it. works with great efficiency in the kitchen, and will often be the one planning dinner party menus with mountain. that, and which special snack he should make next. her specific cooking talent is bread, in particular sourdough. she made a cinnamon bread once that made dew cream his pants, he still hasn't lived it down

phantom burned water once, never tried cooking again. loves to wear a thrifted shrek shirt, "in the morning, im making waffles." they aren't, they barely use the toaster, but they'll make puppy eyes at mountain until he sighs and starts getting the batter ready. will eat anything anyone feeds them, but has an extra soft spot for those cloyingly sweet white puffy sugar cookies with bright colored frosting and sprinkles. the first time they had one was halloween, and they insisted on saving all the bat sprinkles

[mittensmorgul]

Kitchen Nightmares

That's what Mr. Mittens has dubbed the day i have been having. And it's fitting.

Important to know before I begin this tale, though not actually part of the tale:

Our heat pump has been awaiting repairs for about a week now. The heat works, but not WELL. It's painful knowing we're paying like 3x what we should be to keep the house warm while waiting for the Very Expensive Part needed to fix the thing. The part has been received by the repairdude and he's coming out tomorrow to complete the Very Expensive Repair, but in the meantime, we're trying desperately not to run the heat as much as possible. It would kinda suck to break it even worse (and even More Expensively) right before it's scheduled to get fixed.

Okay, now back to the actual Kitchen Portion of this essay...

Last night, I thought it would be fun to make dutch babies as a late night snack. Wednesday is Mr. Mittens' night off every week, and we always have some sort of pastry or other sweet treat with our coffee and then watch bad tv together for a few hours. It's a tradition! So my sister gave us a recipe for dutch babies made in a muffin tin... tiny dutch babies! What a fun idea, right?!

Well I got the ingredients all measured out into the blender, go to turn it on, and... the motor whirs and it SOUNDS like something should be happening, but nothing is actually happening! the ingredients remain a congealed mass in the bottom of the blender.

When I lift the pitcher to make sure i got the blades in securely or whatever, a bunch of heavy plastic nubs go skittering across the counter. These are the nubs on the blender base that engage the blades inside the pitcher. And they are very clearly no longer attached to the blender.

Now, this is a fairly old blender. I've probably had it about 20 years. I don't use it very often, but when I do, it's because I specifically need a blender for that task. And it's a Good Quality Blender! It's a Kitchen Aid! It's not supposed to do this! But it did... with a cup of flour, a cup of milk, and four eggs rapidly turning into something resembling wet concrete in the bottom of the pitcher.

Well, luckily i also own an immersion blender, but I'm not dumb enough to jam it down into the big blender pitcher to engage in some sort of hand-held spinning blades duel, so I scrape all that pseudo-batter into a mixing bowl and have at it. All the while, the muffin tin has been pre-heating in the oven and is starting to smell a little strange.

I pull it out, drop a pat of butter into each well, and pour in the batter, which i'm already not sure retains the correct proportions of ingredients, since it was truly impossible to get everything out of the blender. I was doing my best! I WAS DOING MY BEST!

My best was truly sub-par...

So i get it in the oven, and toward the end of the bake time, it was getting a little smokey in there. Ah, crap, some of the batter overflowed and splatted on the bottom of the oven, but the dutch babies actually turned out pretty tasty! So at least there's that... Aside from being like three times as messy as they should've been, and requiring a lot more cleanup than it should've taken, and my now destroyed blender that I'm pretty sure can't be repaired... well... it was almost one in the morning, i was tired, the oven was still hot, I figured I'd just clean up the spilled mess in the oven in the morning.

That... was a mistake.

Because by morning, I'd totally forgotten about it.

Until Mr. Mittens decided he'd make himself a frozen pizza. So he turned on the oven.

The kiddo was in the kitchen toasting a bagel, I was in the living room typing on my laptop, and when he went in to put the pizza in the oven, the kid was like "uh i think something's smoking a little in there?"

And they opened the oven door only to find it was literally on fire!

so... they closed the oven door and called out to me to alert me to this fact.

"uh, hon... i think the oven's on fire..."

and since this is apparently an event beyond the comprehension of my spouse and my adult kid, I put down the laptop and drag my ass out of my chair and go in the kitchen.

Mr. Mittens and kiddo are just standing there, staring at the smoke now pouring out of the oven vent, like... okay what do we do now?

I was like "wait, you saw fire and just closed the oven door?"

they shrug

I began by turning off the oven, as you do in circumstances like these, then opened the door and started... trying to blow out the fire. as you do... ?

when that quite obviously failed, i grabbed the fire extinguisher and had the fire out in like half a second.

But then I had twice as much mess to clean up as I would've if I'd only remembered the stupid dutch baby spill before the oven got turned on again.

So... mr mittens dejectedly put his pizza back in the freezer and i waited for the oven to get cool enough to clean. I couldn't even air out the house, because it's below freezing outside, and my poor heat pump would've likely exploded trying to counteract having all the damn windows open. So we sat in our smoky house while I made us grilled cheese sandwiches and waited for the oven to cool off.

Then I cleaned out the entire damn oven, and it's fine, nothing truly damaged, just a little bit gross. Thank heck. If anything else breaks, I might start screaming and not be able to stop.

I also don't want to clean anything else. But unfortunately I need to do laundry next... At least I had a nice grilled cheese, and some dutch babies. And the oven's clean.

[thedannyphantomcookbook]

42 Ingredient Nasty Burger Sauce Recipe

I figured this would be one of the most challenging recipes to create. As described in the show, "If those 42 secret herbs and spices in our nasty sauce overheated, it could cause an explosion that could take out a whole city block!" - Irving "Third Degree" Burns. And while I may be an amateur home chef, I don't know how feasible something like that is. BUT I did create a 42 ingredient burger sauce. Here are all 42 ingredients and the recipe!

Red onion

Thyme

Olive Oil

Garlic

Smoked Paprika

Brandy

Hot sauce

Ground pepper

Egg

Red or white wine vinegar

Salt

Neutral oil

Lemon juice

Crushed tomatoes

Water

Sugar

Sherry vinegar

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Celery salt

Mustard powder

Cayenne

Clove

Mustard seeds

Turmeric

Honey

Herbs

Honey

Beer

Cider vinegar

Cucumber

Onion

Distilled white vinegar

Cornstarch

Red bell pepper

Celery seed

Dill seed

Parsley

Dill

Fennel

Rosemary

Tarragon

And here is the recipe!

Nasty Sauce

1 red onion, finely chopped

Thyme sprigs

Rosemary springs

Olive oil

Garlic

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika 

Brandy

6-8 Tablespoons Mayo

2-3 Tablespoons Ketchup

2-3 Tablespoons Relish

Hot sauce, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Method:

In a sauce pan, heat olive oil under medium heat. Add the red onion and thyme springs, season with salt and pepper, and immediately cover and lower the heat to low. Leave to cook for a few hours, or until everything turns into a nice jammy texture. After a few hours have gone by, remove lid and discard thyme. Add in garlic and smoked paprika and turn the heat back up to medium. Add in the splash of brandy, and cook for 30 seconds, scraping up any burnt bits stuck to the pan. When the bottom of the pan looks clean, transfer the contents to a food processor with the mayo, ketchup, mustard, relish, hot sauce and ground pepper. Blend until everything is smooth and creamy and transfer to a container.

For the 42 Ingredient Recipe, you can make homemade Mayo, ketchup, mustard, and relish with the recipes provided below.

Homemade Mayo

 - 1 large egg at room temperature

 - 1 tablespoon mustard

 - 1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar

 - 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste

 - 1 cup (240ml) neutral flavored oil, grapeseed, safflower or canola are best

 - 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, optional

Method

In a small food processor, add your egg and blend for 20 seconds. Add your mustard, vinegar, and salt and blend for another 20 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom and resume blending. As it blends, slowly add in the oil, drip by drip, until a quarter of the oil has been emulsified. One the mixture has start to come together, you can start adding the oil in a thin stream. Once all the oil has been added, continue to blend for another 10 seconds. Taste to see if it needs lemon juice, salt, or vinegar. If the mayo seems to thin, you can drip in more oil. Store covered in the fridge for two weeks.

Homemade Ketchup

 - 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

 - ½ cup water, divided

 - ⅔ cup white sugar

 - ¾ cup sherry vinegar

 - 1 teaspoon onion powder

 -  ½ teaspoon garlic powder

 - 1 ¾ teaspoon salt

 -  ⅛ teaspoon celery salt

 - ⅛ teaspoon mustard powder

 - ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper

 - ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

 - 1 whole clove

Method

Pour tomatoes into a slow cooker. Rinse out the cans with the ¼ cup water and pour it back into the slow cooker. Add your sugar, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, celery salt, mustard powder, black pepper, cayenne and whole clove, whisking to combine. Cook on high, uncovered for 10 to 12 hours, or until thick. Stir every hour or so. Use an immersion blender to break down any chunks of tomato that did not break down in the cooking. Finally, use a fine mesh sieve to strain out any other lumps. Transfer to a bowl and allow the ketchup to cool completely. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Homemade Mustard

 - 6 Tablespoons mustard seeds

 - ½ cup mustard powder

 - 2 teaspoons of salt

 - 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

 -  2 tablespoons honey (optional)

 - ¼ cup minced herbs such as parsley, dill, fennel and tarragon.

 - ½ cup water or beer

 - 3 tablespoons of cider vinegar

Method

Using a mortar and pestle, spice grinder, or a bag and meat hammer, grind the mustard seeds, leaving them mostly whole. Pour these into a bowl with the mustard powder, salt, turmeric, honey or herbs. Pour in the water or beer and stir well. When everything is incorporated, let it sit for up to ten minutes. The longer you let it sit, the mellower it’ll taste. When you’re ready, pour in the vinegar. Pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge for 12 hours before use. This will keep for one year.

Homemade Relish 

 - 2 cups finely chopped cucumber (about 3 Kirby cucumbers)

 - 1/2 cup finely chopped onion

 - ½ cup of red bell paper, finely chopped.

 - 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

 - 1/4 cup sugar

 - 1 Tablespoon of celery seed

 - 1 Tablespoon of dill seed or dill weed.

 - 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 teaspoon water

 - Salt

Method

Set a sieve over a bowl and place your cucumber, onion, red bell pepper, and ¾ teaspoon salt and allow it to drain for 3 hours. As the salt mixes with the cucumber and onion, liquid will release. After the three hours, wrap the cucumber and onion in a kitchen towel and squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the the vinegar, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt to a boil until the sugar has dissolved, and there is about ½ cup of liquid left, about 3-4 minutes. Add the cucumber onion mixture and simmer for about 2 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and simmer for another minute, stirring. Transfer the relish to a bowl and chill, uncovered until cold, about 1 ½ hours. The relish will keep for one month.